Business Commons^™

What 100,000 Tweets About The Volkswagen Scandal Tell Us About Angry Customers, Vanitha Swaminathan, Suyun Mah

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In September 2015 the Environmental Protection Agency found that many Volkswagen cars sold in the United States were equipped with software that could falsely improve the performance of diesel engines on emissions tests. This cheating was subsequently acknowledged by the car maker.Among the many issues at stake for the company was one of public perception. Anecdotal evidence at the time of the incident suggested irreparable harm to the Volkswagen brand. So could Volkswagen recover in the short term in this regard? And, the broader question, how can you measure brand perception in times of scandal, particularly in an era where …